1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food products and to methods of their preparation. More particularly, the present invention relates to cereal products presweetened with a coating containing aspartame.
2. The Prior Art
Cereal products, particularly ready-to-eat (hereinafter "R-T-E") breakfast cereals, are well known and popular food items, particularly presweetened R-T-E cereals. Typically, such products include various coatings usually comprising nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners such as sucrose, corn syrup, fructose, etc. While presweetened cereals are popular, concern exists about the affect of such sugars upon diet and dental health.
Attempts have been made to substitute high potency sweeteners such as aspartame for sugar to provide presweetened cereals to reduce sugar consumption. However, aspartame is thermally unstable, causing decomposition and concommitant loss of sweetness. Since aspartame is thermally unstable, the sweetener has been applied to the surface as a coating to the cereal base rather than being added to the other cereal ingredients such as flour, starches, nuts, etc. from which the base is prepared by cooking, explosion, puffing, etc.
Aspartame (L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester) is relatively water insoluble (apx. 1% in water at 20.degree. C.) Thus, application of such sweeteners to a cereal base as a coating presents certain difficulties such as unevenness of application. Such unevenness can result in a phenomenon called "hotspotting" characterized by an intense taste sensation when consumed.
Art attempts to provide cereals coated with aspartame include U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,000 (issued May 4, 1976 to P. A. Baggerly). There, the aspartame was admixed in aqueous suspension with relatively high concentrations of water soluble dextrins. Atomization is used to evenly apply the suspension to the cereal base. A similar technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,151 (issued Mar. 14, 1978). There, however, malto dextrin was substituted for the hydrolyzed dextrins in the aqueous dispersion so as to provide a coating which upon drying provides a frosted appearance as opposed to the glassy appearance taught as resulting from the methods of the '000 patent. The '151 patent also teaches the necessity of spraying the suspension with successive applications in order to produce a frosted appearance.
Other products such as chewing gums have also been provided with coatings containing aspartame as the sweetening agent (see, for example, European Pat. No. 27,024 issued 15/4/81 to Michael Glass and Theresa Cea). There, the aspartame as well as other coating ingredients are dusted onto the article surface and then mechanically affixed to the relatively soft gum exterior by rolling, sizing or wrapping, etc.
The present invention, however, is an improvement over the non-mechanical methods and products of the '000 and '151 patents in at least three respects. First, it has been found that another class of materials previously unrecognized as being suitable for use in aspartame coatings has been surprisingly found to be useful. These materials newly discovered as being useful include vegetable proteins. Second, and more importantly, the present invention can be practiced with cold water or ambient temperature aqueous suspensions being used as a carrier for the aspartame coating. Employment of cold aqueous suspension minimizes or at least reduces the thermal degradation of aspartame caused by the processes of the '000 and '151 patents. Third, the present invention eliminates multiple coating steps previously recognized as being necessary and accomplishes a satisfactory coating in a single application step.